Yemeni Al-Qaeda Offers 20 kg Gold Bounty for Shi’ite Leaders

Already facing an imminent Saudi invasion explicitly targeting him and aiming to reinstall former President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Yemeni Shi’ite leader Abdelmalik al-Houthi is now also facing a significant bounty on his head from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

AQAP today released a video announcing a bounty of 20 kg of gold (about $750,000) for the capture or killing of both Houthi and former Yemeni dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh, also a Shi’ite, declaring them the “two heads of evil.”

Houthi and his forces have been fighting against AQAP for control over parts of the southern coast for months, though that offensive seems to be slowing with increasing Houthi focus on the Saudis’ overt allies, the remnants of Hadi’s forces.

Ironically, despite being presented often in the media as fellow Shi’ites working together, Saleh has never been particularly fond of the Houthis, killing the group’s founder, Abdelmalik’s older brother Hussein, as well as their father, in a protracted war before his ouster in 2012.